Department of Energy: Web-based Project Preserves Plant’s Uranium Enrichment Legacy

EM News Flash | May 21 Virtual Museum Captures Ohio Plant History Web-based Project Preserves Plant’s Uranium Enrichment Legacy PIKETON, Ohio – Do you wonder what the interior of a uranium enrichment plant looks like without ever stepping foot in the facility?    Now, the public can view photos, watch interviews with current and former workers who share historical accounts and browse old newsletters on the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant from as far back as the early 1950s with the touch of a computer keyboard or screen.    DOE launched the website, www.portsvirtualmuseum.org, this year. Already, it has generated more than 36,000 page views and 3,000 people from 22 countries have visited the website.    DOE established the website to preserve the rich history of its southern Ohio plant built between 1952 and 1956 to support the nation’s nuclear weapons program. The website is maintained by DOE contractor Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC.    “The plant played an important role in supporting our nation’s defense through the Cold War as well as the development of nuclear energy,” said Dr. Vince Adams, DOE Site Director. “I am proud of its history and the virtual museum allows everyone to step inside and learn more about this engineering and scientific marvel.” An online museum on the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant went live earlier this year.    The facility was the last of three gaseous diffusion plants built in the United States by DOE’s predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The Portsmouth plant ended production of enriched uranium in May 2001, and preparations to decontaminate and decommission (D&D) the facility are under way. The other two plants were built in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Paducah, Ky. The Oak Ridge facility is currently being dismantled and Paducah’s is still operational.    A special feature on the website is a 26-minute documentary, “The Portsmouth Story,” produced by AEC. The feature contains footage of the plant being built on the 3,777-acre federal property.    At the time of the Ohio plant's construction, the facility's three uranium enrichment process buildings were among the largest in the world, encompassing more than 10 million square feet on 90 acres. Altogether, those three buildings are comparable in size to three Yankee Stadiums and a football field. More than 100,000 tons of structural steel were used to construct the Ohio buildings, and the facility used more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity daily during full operation. That was enough power to service New York City at that time.    The plant’s initial mission was to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear-weapons-grade material at the height of the Cold War. In the 1960s, its mission shifted to production of lower enriched uranium for U.S. Naval nuclear submarine reactors and commercial nuclear power plants.    After enriched uranium production ended at the plant, it was placed in a cold standby mode for potential restart. However, in 2005, DOE transitioned the plant into cold shutdown to deactivate equipment and prepare for eventual dismantlement. In 2010, DOE awarded a $2.1 billion contract to Fluor-B&W to conduct the D&D activities.    Workers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have demolished some small support facilities at the site. Fluor-B&W is preparing to demolish several additional support buildings, including the plant’s primary administration building, former cafeteria and medical facility, all built in the early 1950s.    “Some of the buildings are starting to disappear from the landscape,” Adams said. “This website will preserve much of the history and be an educational source for many years into the future.”    In addition to the newsletters, videos, exterior and interior building images and photos of workers, the virtual museum includes a general plant history and other documentation.    Photos, videotaped interviews and other information related to the more than 130 buildings that comprise the plant will be added to the website on an ongoing basis. Visit Us on the Web: www.em.doe.gov

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Whole Community: Communities taking control

Using the Toxic Release Inventory to Build Power in Communities

2012 May 17

By Erin Heaney

When Congress created the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), they intended for communities to have access to information about what was happening at the facilities in their neighborhoods. But until very recently, in the neighborhood we live in, many folks didn’t know the database existed and others didn’t have access to computers or know how to use them.

My organization, the Clean Air Coalition, was founded by residents in Tonawanda, NY who suspected that their pervasive health problems were linked to the industrial plants in their neighborhoods. There are 53 industrial facilities in Tonawanda, which is the highest concentration of air-regulated facilities in the state.

We have built power by developing grassroots leaders who run campaigns that advance environmental justice in Western New York. For example, in March we trained our membership on how to use the TRI.

We spent the first half of the training learning about history of TRI and about how it was through communities standing up and saying that they needed more information about the environmental conditions in their communities that led to the creation of the TRI. Our members learned who reports to TRI, as well as when and how the data is verified. Afterward, we headed over to the computer lab to learn how to use the EPA TRI tool myrtk.epa.gov. Our members dug into the data for their neighborhoods and learned which companies were polluting, what they were emitting and what the health effects of those emissions were.

Their reactions were powerful. One member said, “I’m sick to my stomach;” another said, “This makes me angry and makes me want to do something about it.” Folks left the training ready to recruit more of their neighbors to push for emissions reductions from companies and policymakers.

    The training took place during the Coalition’s campaign to ensure the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYS DEC) air monitors remained up and running. The training educated members about what was in their back yards and motivated them to advocate for air monitoring in the community. In the end, our work paid off and the campaign successfully resulted in a commitment from the NYS DEC to keep the monitors up and running for another two years.                                                                                                   

At our office we have a saying: “Knowledge isn’t power. Power is power.” While access to information alone doesn’t make change, providing people with information about what’s happening in their neighborhoods is an essential piece of building power in environmental justice communities.

About the author: Erin Heaney is the Executive Director of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, a grassroots organization that develops community leadership to win campaigns that advance public health and environmental justice. She has trained hundreds of grassroots leaders and won campaigns that have resulted in significant emissions reductions from some of the region’s largest polluters.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.